


Promise Me

by wanderer765



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Home, Hurt/Comfort, Love, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-20
Updated: 2017-09-20
Packaged: 2018-12-31 23:23:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12143358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanderer765/pseuds/wanderer765
Summary: This was written around this line that Iris says in the newest trailer, "I couldn't bring myself to sleep in our bed alone."





	Promise Me

They walked into their loft together for the first time in six months. 

 

Iris walked in first, Barry behind her. She put her bag and keys down and made her way into the open living room space. 

 

For so long she'd come home alone. For so long she'd kept the lights on low, illuminating the space just enough, keeping the things that might break her in the dark.  

 

Pictures of them were face down, it was the first thing he noticed. 

 

Barry slowly took everything in. It was mostly the same, but little things were different. It wasn't a place filled with laughter and life anymore, but a place someone who was barely surviving lived. 

 

She might've put on a strong face when out in the world, but here in their home, she didn't have to pretend. 

 

Here her sadness showed. 

 

He came to stand beside her noticing the pillows and blankets on their couch. He looked at her and raised his eyebrows in a silent question. 

 

She nervously played with her hands. 

 

"I couldn't bring myself to sleep in our bed alone."

 

She stared at her make shift bed and bit at her lip, her walls crumbling. The tears were finally free to fall in the safety of their home. He quickly wrapped his arms around her, her head resting against his chest. Her hands were in fists as she soaked his shirt in her tears. 

 

Her tiny body shook in his arms as she cried and cried. One of his hands rubbed up and down her back as the other cradled her head. He softly swayed her back and forth, trying to ground her and calm her down. 

 

After some time, her breathing started to return to normal. He wanted to look at her face, kiss her lips, but when he tried to move her she only clung to him harder. 

 

"Iris..."

 

She squeezed even harder. 

 

Hearing his voice again, the soft, reverent, melodic way he said her name. It made her weak in the knees. 

 

And the crying started again. 

 

Barry realized how exhausted she must be. How she probably hadn't had a proper night's rest since he left her. He bent a little and scooped her up bridal style, her face never leaving its place on his chest, her hands not releasing their tight grip. 

 

He didn't speed away, he walked slowly. One step at a time he made his way to their bedroom. So many times before he'd taken all of this for granted, not stopping to appreciate the beautiful home they'd created together. 

 

As he climbed the stairs he noticed more pictures turned around or laying face down and his heart sunk. 

 

The door to their room was closed and he wondered how long it had been since she'd gone in there. He slowly turned the knob and looked down at her before walking in. 

 

Her eyes were squeezed closed, her breathing rapidly increasing. 

 

"It's okay. I've got you," he whispered in her ear. 

 

He kissed her forehead and her eyes slowly opened. 

 

"It's...it's been a while. I moved a lot of my clothes into the office downstairs so..."

 

"Are you okay to go in here? If it's too soon I can carry you back downstairs and we can sleep on the couch."

 

She played with his shirt and shook her head.

 

"No. I want this," she assured him. 

 

He lightly kicked the door open and carried her in. For the first time in what felt like hours, she lifted her head off his chest. 

 

She took a shaky breath in and then looked up at him. He gave her a soft smile as he gently placed her on her side of the bed. He tried to stand and was going to walk around to his side but she panicked and reached for him. Afraid of the loss of contact, missing the feel of him against her. 

 

He quickly got the memo and kicked off his shoes, laying down beside her, her body fitting perfectly against his. She nuzzled her head under his chin, breathing him in. Her fingers played at his shirt again as she re-familiarized herself with the feel of him. 

 

She took a slow breath in and a slow breath out. 

 

"I'd forgotten what you smell like," she said sadly. "And the way your heart sounds against my ear when we lay like this."

 

He closed his eyes.

 

"I tried sleeping with one of your shirts at first, but then it stopped smelling like you and the emptiness of it killed me. All I wanted was for your arms to wrap around me, for your warmth to settle my bones."

 

She sniffled and Barry realized she was crying again. Had she ever even stopped since they'd walked in the house?

 

He held on to her tighter. 

 

She yawned, snaking her leg in between his, tangling their limbs so she could no longer tell where he stopped and she began. 

 

"I'm so tired..."

 

Her breath was warm against his chest.

 

"I've got you Iris, it's okay to sleep."

 

She lifted her head and he lowered his, their eyes meeting in the twilight of their room. He lowered his lips to hers and they kissed like time was a fading, fleeting thing. 

 

"Promise me you'll be here when I wake up," she whispered against his lips. 

 

He kissed her again.

 

"I promise."

 

She settled back in to him and let her eyes fall shut. 

 

"I love you Iris..."

 

Her breath caught in her throat. 

 

They hadn't said they'd loved each other yet since his return. It was like all the coldness and sadness that lived in the walls for six months was suddenly stripped away. 

 

There was life here again.

 

"I love you too Barry."


End file.
